Emma Raducanu became the most-talked about player on the tennis tour in September but Melbourne fans will have to wait to see her
Teenage US Open champion Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from next week’s Melbourne Summer Set, only weeks after contracting Covid-19.
Raducanu revealed her decision to pull out of the WTA 250 tournament after practising at Melbourne Park on Saturday – but still plans to play in the Australian Open.
“The timing to compete in the first Melbourne event this week is too soon for me, having just returned from isolation,” she said in a statement.
The British sensation, who became the first qualifier to win a grand slam title when she triumphed in New York in September, will be one of the most fascinating players to watch this summer.
Raducanu, 19, had planned to compete in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi before she tested positive to coronavirus in mid-December.
She is still coming to terms with the sudden fame thrust upon her after the US Open title, which she won as the world No.150.
Raducanu has won two of her five matches since her grand slam glory but starts the new season inside the top 20 and with the eyes of the tennis world on her.
Her fourth-round run at Wimbledon as a wildcard in July proved the US Open effort was not a fluke.
Everyone has an opinion on what will come next, with grand slam legend Martina Navratilova predicting on the WTA website that it was “going to be hard” for Raducanu this year.
“Players have seen her; they know what to do against her. But most of all, she just needs matches,” Navratilova said.
“She’s the biggest wildcard for me, because clearly, she has the ability to play great tennis.
“Can she replicate it consistently enough? Eight WTA-level tournaments in her life? That’s half a season. I’d go into Wimbledon with 10, 12 matches under my belt.”
Navratilova also questioned how Raducanu would physically handle the weekly grind of the tour and being ‘the hunted’.
“Everybody’s going to be gunning for her. That’s the thing that’s going to look good on their resume,” she said.
“And the pressure’s going to be on her emotionally, as well. Being a Brit, she’s under a huge microscope and it’s hard to get away from it.
“We’ll see. Coaching uncertainty, too. To me, that she let go of the coach (Andrew Richardson) who got her to the US Open was unfathomable. I really don’t get that.”
Raducanu confirmed in November that her new coach would be Torben Beltz, who previously worked with former world No.1 and 2016 Australian Open champion Angie Kerber.
The women’s field will be split into two events in Sunday’s draw, with Naomi Osaka, Jessica Pegula, Simona Halep and Elise Mertens expected to be the top seeds.
Originally published as US Open champion Emma Raducanu to skip Melbourne Summer Set tournament as she recovers from Covid-19
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